US women keep rolling in World Cup with 18-1 win over host England

The United States shut out host England for nearly 38 minutes and cruised to an 18-1 victory Saturday, improving to 3-0 in the 2017 FIL Women’s World Cup at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, England. The U.S. will play Canada (3-0) in a battle of unbeaten Pool A squads Sunday at 6 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Eastern).

All games are being streamed live at https://www.247.tv/live/lacrosse/rathbones-lacrosse-world-cup-2017.

Like Scotland and Australia, England (2-1) found few openings against the U.S. and its unrelenting full-field pressure. The U.S. offense, meanwhile, operated with almost surgical precision, timing spot feeds and off-ball movement in a dominant performance.

The attack trio of Kayla Treanor (Syracuse ’16), Alex Aust (Maryland ’13) and Michelle Tumolo (Clearview Regiobal-NJ, Syracuse ’13) inflicted the most damage. Treanor factored in 12 of the 18 goals with five goals and seven assists to earn Player of the Match honors. Aust netted a game-high six goals. Tumolo added two goals and two assists, also causing several turnovers in the U.S. ride and snagging three draw controls.

England attempted to break the U.S. ride with its own high-risk, high-reward tactic, often sending long outlets up the field. It made for a fast-paced first half with plenty of back-and-forth action, but also with little upside for England, which went scoreless.

Megan Whittle (Maryland ’18) finally got England on the board when she beat her former college teammate Megan Douty (Maryland ’15) one-on-one and scored as she fell to the ground to make it 10-1 with 22:06 remaining in the second half.

It took the U.S. just 10 seconds to respond. Taylor Cummings (Maryland ’16) won the ensuing draw and fed Aust off the break to stretch its lead back to 10.

Treanor either scored or assisted the final seven goals and now has 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in three games. Brooke Griffin (Maryland ’15) added three goals to give her a team-high 11 for the tournament.

The U.S. outshot England 36-12, converted 50 percent of its shots (18-for-36) and held a 14-7 advantage in draw controls.